Automatic and handheld coating material dispensing devices of various types are well-known. There are, for example, the guns illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,169,882; 4,002,777;and, 4,285,446. There are also the Ransburg model REA 3, REA 4, REA 70, REA 90, REM and M-90 guns, all available from ITW Ransburg, 320 Phillips Avenue, Toledo, Ohio, 43612-1493. The disclosures of these references are hereby incorporated herein by reference. No representation is intended by this listing that a thorough search of all material prior art has been conducted, or that no better art than that listed is available, or that the listed items are material to patentability. Nor should any such representation be inferred.
Many currently available atomizers include needle valves. The movable components of such valves extend through portions of the atomizer through which the material being atomized, typically a liquid under relatively high pressure, flows. Typically, the movable components of such valves pass through compressible chevron packing in a packing gland. Such packings include, for example, a stack of disks, sometimes of bibulous materials. The disks are stacked inside a housing which may have (a) threaded closure(s) at one or both ends. Each disk has a hole through which the needle extends in sealed fashion. The dimensions of the disks are such that, when the stack of disks is inserted into the housing, the disks are collapsed somewhat to fit into the housing. Sections through the housing along the axis of the needle show the disks in somewhat of a chevron shape, giving the packing its name. A threaded closure at an end of the housing is removable from the housing to repair the packing, such as by replacing individual disks or all the disks of the packing. The threaded closure typically can also be adjusted into or onto the housing to increase the compression of the disks within the housing and increase the force with which they seal to the needle which passes through the hole in each disk. Thus, adjustment of the threaded closure is often done when the packing leaks. If the adjustment stops the leak, further, more time-consuming repair may be forestalled and downtime averted.
The terms “front,” “rear,” “top,” “bottom,” and the like are used for convenience in explanation and understanding of the invention only, and are not intended to be, nor should they be considered as, used in any limiting sense.